Elections to Gilgit -Baltistan Legislative Assembly are taking place on June 8 under the supervision of the Pakistan Army. This 'democratic' exercise is a farce as actual power rests not with the elected assembly but with a Council chaired by the Prime Minister of Pakistan with Governor of Gilgit- Baltistan as its vice chairman, says the author while putting the issue in its historical perspective. ...

Roots of the Chinese Stock Market turmoil are in the prescription to offset the export loss in the wake of financial meltdown of 2008. Investment backed by credit comprised around 50 percent of GDP while consumption spending accounted for barely 35 percent. It has proved simply unviable. ...

Making a determined comeback bid, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is re-positioning himself as he only strong Sinhala leader who is capable of taking on the devious Tamils, and hopes in the process to weather away the scams that are tumbling out of his past....

Jamaat has been a long time ally of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Begum Khaleda Zia. The ban on Jamaat can give a handle to Khaleda to go around the nation as a victim of Hasina politics. It may not get much mileage though, firstly because the BNPis in bad shape, with its leadership embroiled in corruption cases, and secondly because the Jamaat voters are already with the BNP....

While the perception of the Afghan conflict as simply the government and allied forces against a unified Taliban has long been an over-simplification, in recent years the number of fighting groups has grown exponentially... There are now believed to be three shuras another seven or eight independent "fronts". ...

While immediately after the 9/11, the concern of Washington was Al Qaeda, now its focus is on the Taliban and other armed militant groups that operate from the Pakistani soil, mostly with the patronage of Rawalpindi GHQ Shura which acts through the ISI....

The developments in Iraq and Syria have lessons for the Americans in Afghanistan. Playing for short term stakes, pampering Pakistan or spurning help from India, which has a stake in the well-being of Afghanistan besides expertise in handling insurgency, pay no dividends even in the near term, says the analyst....

To check the slide of the Palestinian conflict from political to the religious level, Israel will do well to open a dialogue with the Arab civil society in East Jerusalem, says the analyst in the context of Nov 18 attack on a synagogue. ...

The civilian nuclear deal India had entered into with the US during Bush Junior’s presidency undoubtedly opened the doors for India-Australia uranium business. Hitherto, Abbott’s predecessors’ saw India through the NPT prism and blocked the sale of uranium since India is not a signatory to treaty. ...

The West must factor in and come to grips with the factors that have given birth to IS phenomenon; this they must do with the same seriousness with which they calculate their military moves since crushing the head of a serpent with a bomb or a missile is in no way sufficient for a successful war against the phenomenon like IS, says the analyst, who is a reputed authority on Islamic movements in the Arab World and Islamic Fundamentalism....

One of the most prolific genres composed by Khusrau are the pahelis, riddles that children of the subcontinent grow up enjoying. Deeply influenced by the spiritual philosophy of Like his master, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Khusrau believed in tolerance and affection between people of separate faiths. Khusrau loved Hindustan, India, with all its fragrant flowers, fruits, vegetables, trees and animals and likened it to Paradise writing, ‘The heavens said that of all the countries which have come out of the earth, it is Hindustan that has achieved the height of excellence’....

Islam came to India in three waves with the Arab
traders,invaders and Sufis. India accepted the new religion and helped
in enriching Islam in all respects. Visit SACRED SPACE to know the
contribution India has made to Islamic thought and Islamic
jurisprudence amongst others.